Much Friction About Nothing

The land which once bore an assortment of cash and food crops in an imaginary village in one of the gold-bearing parts of the country now lies desolate ripped of all nutrients and vegetation cover.

It has been visited by an intense activity of the illegal gold prospectors otherwise known as galamseyers.

The activities of the mostly young men have sparked an unimaginable spate of intractable challenge on the social front now tipping the edge of the political terrain and prompting various arguments.

If other exchanges were tolerable not so when the President and the Okyehene lock horns in an unnecessary struggle over whose word is right and makes more sense about the subject.

The galamsey problem is as befuddling as the verbal exchanges between the two respectable personalities, as the duo appears to be misunderstanding each other over a situation aggravated by various interest groups championing their entrenched agenda.

What started as a seemingly innocuous remark by the President about how Okyeman now tops in the volume of galamsey activities in the estimation of the Number One Citizen has gone viral.

An Okyenman youth grouping had earlier taken issues with the President for describing their part of the country as unsurpassed in the volume of illegal mining activities.

Owing to the large expanse of land being rendered virtually useless by the illegal miners, some of them migrants from nearby countries, President Mahama might have been pained by the spectacle and remarked the way he did.

We honestly doubt if the First Citizen meant any malice by the remarks he posted and would accordingly ask that the context in which it is being misconstrued is revised lest the negative repercussions of the devastating effects of the illegal mining activities are clouded by the unnecessary exchanges over whether the issue should be about the rooftop spate of illegal activities or the appalling state of roads in Okyeman.

While both are serious issues, non-negotiable under the circumstances, we would rather the rate at which the land which holds the important topsoil supporting food production is rated higher than any other thing.

President John Mahama and the Okyehene both seek to protect a certain part of the country’s interests but it would seem that the dignitaries are being taken out of context in a manner which is not helping matters pitting them against each other.

The state of the galamsey-destroyed lands is so enormous that no time should be lost in stopping those responsible for the order because not doing so now could visit a disastrous effect on the already challenged food production status of the country.

Asking for a truce between the two would be such a fantastic idea, one that can lead to a sustainable management of land in the country, especially in areas now targets of the galamseyers who would stop at nothing to extract gold from the soil even if that threatens the fertility of our land.

While the President is looking at the net effects of a destroyed environment, somewhat difficult to reverse, the Okyehene thinks the roads are rather the issue. Much friction about nothing is certainly the reality on the ground.